Group is asked to put $341 million in escrow to buy Sacramento Kings

SACRAMENTO, May 9 (UPI) -- The NBA wants a prospective local buyer of the Sacramento Kings to put its entire $341 million offer in escrow to ease the sale, The Sacramento Bee said.

As the league prepares to vote next week on the team's future, a source told the newspaper the NBA has asked the local investment group led by Silicon Valley entrepreneur Vivek Ranadive to demonstrate it has the means to acquire the team to ease concerns of its current owners, the Maloof brothers, the Bee reported Thursday. The Maloof family has privately expressed concerns about the financing of the Ranadive group, which has put 50 percent of its offer in escrow.

A competing group, with plans to move the team to Seattle, has reportedly placed 100 percent of its $357 million offer into an escrow account, the newspaper said. The Maloofs agreed to a deal with the Seattle group for the higher amount months ago but an NBA committee has recommended against moving the franchise out of Sacramento.

The league's board of governors is expected to vote on the Kings' relocation issue at a meeting in Dallas next week, an NBA official said.

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